Strike a Pose
by MildlyMoonstruck
Summary: 'Because nobody could go from seductive dancing, to bashfulness around strangers, to saying the word 'dick' with absolutely no shame unless they were some kind of crazy.' It's the grand opening of club Fairy Tail, and the night is about to get good. Gruvia. AU Oneshot.


**So, I'm totally not even one hundred percent sure what this is? It's my first attempt at an AU, though, so I'm sorry if it's BS. Haha. This came to me, like all ideas do, when I was listening to a song (of which the English lyrics are below) called Ifudoudou, covered by Shoose. My friend called it musical porn, so. Pretty accurate. And that was pretty much all the excuse I needed to slam out this little oneshot featuring awkward teenage Gray, gay Lyon (yes, you read that right), and Vogue Femme dancer Juvia. Vogue, by the way, is literally the coolest dance style to grace this planet, in my opinion; it's super fab.**

**Anyways, this is basically just word vomit, but I actually kind of like it? I certainly had fun writing it; hopefully I didn't miss any errors. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

'_**What you want, yes, it's time to get MORE of that great feeling,  
So DANCE the way you feel right now,  
Do as you're told and GET DOWN!'  
-Ifudoudou**_

* * *

'_Gray! Fairy Tail in fifteen minutes; you have done literally nothing all day, so come and hang out! This place is amazing!'_

Gray pulled a face at the text message and slid open the phone to type out a response. _'That new club down on Fantasia Avenue? Why are you there?'_

It chirped with a response less than a minute later. _'Natsu invited us, remember?'_

Gray blinked and frowned in confusion. _'Wait, what? Why is Natsu there?'_

'_GRAY FULLBUSTER. DO NOT TELL ME YOU FORGOT THAT HE GOT HIRED TO BE THE EMCEE OR SO HELP ME GOD.'_

"Shit," he breathed, leaping off the bed and grabbing a somewhat nice button-down before running out of his room. His fingers flew over the keypad and his phone blipped with the sent response of, 'Be there in a few.' Vaguely, he remembered having lunch with Natsu and Lucy a few days ago and the former bragging about his new job, but in all honesty, he had tuned most of it out since he'd figured that the idiot was just trying to impress her. "Stupid Natsu with his stupid job," he muttered, irritated.

Gray tromped down the stairs, so focused on trying to button up his shirt that he didn't notice the person in his path, and so he slammed right into them and sent them both tumbling to the ground.

"Jesus Christ, Gray, where's the fire?"

Gray pushed himself up and scowled at the offending obstacle that had blocked his path. "Shut up, Lyon. I'm going out," he announced, doing up the rest of the buttons and glancing around the otherwise empty living room. Spotting his house keys on the coffee table, he snatched them up and asked, "Where's Ur?"

Lyon shrugged and tried to rearrange his silver locks that had been mussed from the fall. "I dunno, probably out back trying to finish a piece. Why? Where are you going?"

"Out," Gray repeated as he turned towards the couch and shoved his hands into the spaces between the cushions. He huffed and muttered, "Damn it, where are the car keys?" A little jingle from behind caught his attention, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Lyon smirking smugly and twirling said keys on his index finger. "Gimme those; I need the car."

"Ah-ah," he tutted, lifting them high above his head and—because he had a few inches on his little brother—just out of Gray's reach. "Not so fast, kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Then don't act like one. Anyways, _where _are you going at—" He glanced at the clock on the wall. "—nearly nine o' clock at night? Cause if you're headed off somewhere you shouldn't be and Ur finds out, you know what she's going to do to you. Remember the last time you snuck off?"

Gray growled and made a jump for the keys, but Lyon easily stepped back and out of the way. "Yeah, I remember, and _no_, I'm not going anyplace bad. And I'm not 'sneaking' either. I'm eighteen; I can get into clubs now."

Lyon's dark eyes widened in interest. "A club? What club? It better not be Phantom Lord; I went there last week, and I'm pretty sure I saw someone snorting fairy glitter in the bathroom; seedy as fuck."

Gray gave him a withering look and sighed, "It's that new place down on Fantasia."

"_Fairy Tail!?_" Lyon exclaimed, seizing Gray by the shoulders; the younger man winced at the feeling of the keys digging into his flesh. "Awesome, let's go."

"Wha—I didn't invite you along! I'm supposed to meet Lucy and Natsu there."

"Well, I have the car keys, so consider it as me inviting you, and we can meet up with your friends when we get there. Don't be ungrateful; I've heard that place is supposed to be awesome, and it's the grand opening, so I bet they're going all out tonight to drum up good reviews in town."

"Tch," Gray scoffed, reluctantly trailing after Lyon to the slightly beat-up convertible parked at the front of their house. "You're annoying."

"Well you're adopted."

"So are you!"

"Yes, but I'm the favorite non-biological child. Now wait in the car; I'll let Ur know where we're going."

Gray grumbled and hopped in, slumping down in the passenger seat and letting the cool night breeze wash over him. It smelled like summer—freshly mowed grass and smoke from a nearby barbeque that was probably Mr. Droy's from next door. He heard the faint buzzing of a chainsaw drifting to his ears from the back of his own house; his adoptive mother was definitely working on her latest ice sculpture. He grinned and wished that Lyon would get in trouble for bothering her, because Ur hated to be interrupted in the middle of her work, but his hopes were dashed when his brother came bounding around the house with a grin on his face.

"Turns out Fairy Tail actually commissioned a sculpture from her for next weekend, so we lucked out and she is totally okay with us going. I told her I'd have you home by one, though."

"What, you're my keeper now?"

"Oh, relax, Gray," Lyon teased, hopping in the front seat and starting the car. "It's baby's first _legal_ club experience; of course I have to watch over you. I am the eldest, after all."

"Ultear's the eldest, you dipshit."

"The eldest who isn't travelling abroad," Lyon amended as they sped through the streets, out of the residential fringes of Magnolia and further towards downtown. "And after what happened _last _time, it's no wonder Ur wants me to keep an eye on you."

"Shut up about that, already—it was two years ago!"

Lyon chuckled and continued, "Yeah, and it's still funny, because if you had just asked _me _to take you to a club, we could've just lied and told Ur we were gonna go see a late movie. But _no_, stupid little Gray just _had _to sneak off to Deliora—the crappiest club in all of Fiore, for shit's sake—with his just-as-underage friends and get caught."

Gray scowled at him and slumped further down in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and snapping, "Lyon, I would never ask you to take me to a club because all you go to are gay clubs. In what universe would it be a good idea for you to take your sixteen year old, straight brother to a gay club?"

"In every universe, because gay clubs are _fabulous_," Lyon sing-songed, purposely affecting a lisp just to see Gray twitch in annoyance. He laughed and lifted a hand off the wheel to pat his little brother on the head, continuing, "And besides, if your first club had been a gay one, you could've enjoyed the atmosphere instead of being focused on chasing tail for the entire night. Hell, I bet the only way you _could_ get a girl to dance with you is if she thought you were gay."

Gray rolled his eyes and thumped the side of his head against the window. "You're an ass."

"Love you too, buddy."

"Gay."

"You're a bitch, Gray," Lyon laughed as they pulled into the parking lot of Fairy Tail. Lyon whistled as he turned off the ignition and said, "Wow. Not bad at all. Channeling a little 'Moulin Rouge' here, but it looks pretty good."

Fairy Tail was a one-story stone building with, interestingly enough, a little tower that resembled a windmill at its top, its bright orange sails artfully torn and fluttering in the breeze. There was a crowd of people milling about on the sidewalk out front, and Gray could see the club's stained glass windows practically rattling from the booming bass that was thumping from inside. There was a large neon sign above its vermillion double doors, proudly displaying the flashing words, 'FAIRY TAIL' in a whimsical script. Below that, a banner read, 'Welcome to the fantasy.' And underneath that, Gray spotted a blonde girl frantically waving in his direction.

"Hey Gray!" Lucy exclaimed when he approached. "Nice of you to be late," she deadpanned, shooting him a somewhat caustic look before she turned to the older sibling with a sunny smile. "Hey Lyon, how's it going?"

Lyon grinned at her and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Everything's swell, Lucy, and I have to apologize for my brother's lack of punctuality. It's very immature of him to keep a lady waiting."

"You were the one who made me late!" Gray exclaimed, exasperated.

Lucy giggled—Ur's constantly bickering boys could always be counted on for a laugh, even unintentionally—and she nodded towards the doors of the club. "Let's go in; there are actually a couple more people we know here, and we've all got a table."

The interior of Fairy Tail was an absolute explosion of color and sound, a rainbow of lights swirling around the place and people chattering and dancing. Gray grinned and shouted over the music, "This place is ridiculous!"

"I know, right?" Lucy yelled back, dragging them through a crowd of gyrating bodies. "Way better than Deliora; do you remember that?"

Gray couldn't hear it, but he could most definitely see Lyon laughing at him at the mention of that escapade. He felt the back of his neck grow hot, but he adopted an almost neutral expression and replied, "Yeah, but I'd rather _not_." He squinted through the crowd and pointed ahead, asking, "What've they got a stage for?"

Lucy bounced excitedly and exclaimed, "Oh, it's the coolest thing! Natsu told me all about it; apparently this club hired a bunch of performers for entertainment. Singers, dancers—you actually just missed a video jockey do a show. It's so even people who don't want to dance or hang out at the bar have something to enjoy, I think. I dunno the lineup, but everything's been really cool so far. Oh, here we are!"

Their table was near the base of the giant stage, and Gray recognized Cana and Elfman right away. The other two occupants of the table took a second, but he registered that they were Lyon's friends, Evergreen and Freed.

"Hey Gray, Lyon! Nice of you to show up!" Cana yelled, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder and saluting them with a half-finished drink. Elfman grinned at him, and Evergreen and Freed both nodded in greeting to Lyon.

"Elfman, I didn't think you'd be here," Gray said good-naturedly; despite the other's bulky appearance, he was gentle at heart and had never really seemed to be the type to party.

Elfman nodded and gestured towards the massive lit-up bar at the other end of the club. "My big sister's got a job bartending here, and she was pretty nervous about it. She brought me along for moral support, and to order drinks that she knows how to make the best."

"I've been helping out with that," Cana chirped before downing the rest of her drink in one gulp and slamming the empty glass on the table. "Who's up for another round?" she shouted, and after everybody gave her their money and drink orders, she dashed off.

"What're you guys doing here?" Lyon asked, pointing to his friends. "And why the hell didn't I get the memo?"

Freed smiled sheepishly at him and shrugged apologetically. "Laxus' grandpa owns part of this place and asked him if he wanted to DJ for opening night," he offered in explanation. "He actually didn't even tell us, but we found out and showed up anyway. Bickslow's here somewhere too, but he probably fucked off to the bathroom to try and procure a hasty hand job from some random stranger."

Lucy and Gray let out surprised laughs, and Elfman blushed at the crass language. Lyon smirked and shook his head in amusement before glancing towards the area where the music was pumping from; indeed, there was Laxus behind the DJ booth, his blonde hair easy to spot, as were the distinctive Sound Pod headphones that he never went anywhere without. Lyon grinned and nodded. "Good for him; maybe he'll make a career out of it."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did," Evergreen said, and the rest of the table nodded in agreement.

"When performers haven't been onstage, he's been putting on his own mixes," Lucy supplied. "He may have connections, but he's also got the talent to do great without them."

Eventually, Cana returned to the table with their drinks, and a few songs passed with everyone simply talking amongst themselves. Eventually, the music faded and the LED lights behind the stage flickered before flashing brightly, and Gray laughed when Lucy began to cheer and Natsu appeared onstage, waving a giant microphone at the audience.

"Hey, how are you guys liking the night so far?" he shouted, waving to the patrons. "You all fired up?"

His question was met with raucous applause, and Lucy pumped a fist in the air, yelling, "Hell yeah, Natsu!"

Gray winced and clapped a hand over the ear she'd just practically deafened with her enthusiasm, saying, "Easy, cheerleader. I'm sure your boyfriend can hear you."

Lucy turned bright red and punched Gray in the arm, muttering a quick 'shut up' before focusing her attention on the stage once more.

Natsu nodded excitedly at the crowd, spiked pink hair bobbing with the movement, and he waved his arms to signal for silence. When the cheering died down enough, he exclaimed, "Alright, alright! Well, it's about to get even better, 'cause it's time for another show, and _this _is gonna be a hell of a performance—trust me on that! Really cool stuff, guys; give it up for Element Gear!"

Natsu hopped down from the front of the stage and bounded over to them just before the all of the lights began to fade, save for the little glowing crystal that sat in the center of each table in the club. He took a seat next to Lucy and grinned at Gray and Lyon, whispering, "Hey, you guys, glad you could make it here! Just in time, too—this act is really cool!"

Gray turned his attention back to the pitch-black stage, and the whispers of the crowd died down to complete silence.

Slowly, a throbbing bass punctuated the silence every few moments. A light went up on the left side of the stage, revealing a very petite girl with choppy blue hair held back by a flowery headband, holding a microphone. She swayed to the measured beat, and her bright orange dress fluttered with the movement. She lifted the mic to her lips and began to sing, her voice a clear, almost ethereal soprano.

"Ooh," Lucy breathed. "She's really good."

"It gets even better," Natsu said, just as the pulse of the bass began to quicken and morph into electronic dance music with a harder beat, and the girl's voice faded out. The lights flickered once and then came up on the right side of the stage.

"Whoa, that's pretty metal," Lyon whispered, nodding at the tall, muscular man that had just been illuminated; the lights caught each of the several studs he had pierced on his face, ears, and even arms. Gray rolled his eyes so hard at the bad pun that they could've popped out of his head.

The newly-revealed performer lifted his own microphone and surprised everyone when he began to rap, his verses rapid-fire, keeping up with the intensity of the new rhythm; sharp movements of his free hand punctuated the performance. Jaws dropped all around, and Natsu leaned forward and said, "Frickin' A, they're even better than they were when they rehearsed."

"This is the best one I've seen yet," Cana added, head bobbing to the music.

"Wait for it, wait for it," Natsu encouraged, waving a hand at her.

Once again, the music morphed into a different song, and the two performers turned to face the blacked out center of the stage. Their own lights flickered before all of the LED ones lit up in wild shades of every blue imaginable, and their final performer was revealed.

"Holy shit," Gray whispered, but thankfully, no one was paying a single bit of attention to him; their eyes were drawn to _her_.

She stood in the center of the stage, sultry-eyed and lips pouted, gazing indifferently out at the audience. There were several sharp inhales from men all around the club who suddenly found themselves sitting up straighter at the sight of her; she wore a decorated bra with crystals dangling down over her exposed midriff and ending at the top of her go-go shorts. The material of her outfit was a shimmering, metallic blue, flowing over lush curves like water. She had legs for days, and they were encased in thigh-high, brown leather go-go boots.

She almost haughtily tossed the cascade of her long, azure locks over one shoulder and struck a fierce pose, hip pushed out and arms locked tight in their position, but the movement looked far more elegant than it did stiff. And then, as the vocalists at the sides picked up the piece, she began to dance.

Amid the sudden whoops and claps from the crowd, Gray heard Lyon slam his hands down on the table and nearly shout in excitement, "Jesus _Christ_, she's voguing! Like Jenny Realight!"

"Who?"

"Jenny Realight, only the greatest at dancing Vogue Femme in all of Fiore! She's a legend!" Lyon said, eyes wide in admiration as he watched the new performer.

Gray didn't have the slightest idea what his brother was talking about, remaining entirely transfixed on the new performer. He had never been one to enjoy watching people dance—partly because the extent of his own dance skills was the same as it was for nearly every other guy he knew: swaying back and forth to the music and throwing in the occasional fist pump. But then again, he had never seen anybody dance like she was dancing.

She moved fluidly on the stage, arms whirling and locking before flying once again, a mesmerizing performance. She spun right down into an illusion, eliciting amazed gasps and cheers from the club; the vocalists traded verses back and forth, and the dancer kept up with every single one, hips popping, hair flying, and striking pose after pose.

"I think I'm going to pass out," Freed whispered. "She's flawless."

Gray couldn't deny it.

The dancer's arms windmilled around her before she dropped into a deep crouch, balanced on the balls of her feet and kicking out with every thump of the beat. Gray heard Lyon's cheering growing increasingly enthused, and his brother all but leapt out of his seat when the dancer hopped back up and stepped into a wild pirouette before kicking one leg out and falling completely backwards, landing with one leg folded underneath her body; the audience went wild. She swept that leg out and up, heeled foot pointed perfectly in the air with the other leg bent at the knee in a stunning final pose that reminded Gray of all the long-legged, big-chested women he saw in gravure magazines; this was better though, because the stage was so close and she was _right there._

In the moment between the end of the song and the fade of the lights, she turned her head to shoot the crowd one final, alluring look—and her eyes landed on his.

The stage blacked out once again, and the entire table leapt to their feet to deliver a standing ovation; a bit dazed, Gray stood up and clapped once, gaze still fixed on the spot in the dark where she had been.

"Wasn't that the coolest thing you've ever seen in your life?" Natsu exclaimed, flinging his arm around an awed Lucy. She grinned and grabbed him by the pale muffler that he always wore.

"Natsu!" she wheedled, leaning in close. "You _have _to introduce me to them! That was amazing!"

"Did you see the death drop that girl did? It was perfect!" Lyon enthused, slapping a hand down on the table top. "I've gotta meet her too!"

Natsu nodded and stood up. "I already talked to them before we opened, actually," he admitted with a laugh. "They're pretty cool people, and I told them I'd wanna introduce them to you guys anyway; I'm gonna go backstage and bring 'em over," he shouted, bounding away as Laxus' music began to fill the club and people started to filter back onto the dance floor once again. Gray lifted his glass to his lips and tried to pretend that the thought of meeting the blue-haired dancer didn't make his heart hammer erratically in his chest.

"That dancer, though. Wow," Lyon breathed as he glanced down at his watch. "For three whole minutes, I was straight as a board."

Gray nearly spat out his drink as the rest of the table dissolved into laughter. He slanted a glance at his older brother and asked, "What the hell were you talking about during the show, anyway? Something about the style—"

"Vogue Femme," both Lyon and Freed chimed dreamily, and Evergreen rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'crazy gays' before she got up and headed for the bar; Elfman, who had been stealing surreptitious glances at her all night, hastily excused himself and darted after her.

Cana took a long swig from her beer and then queried, "Didn't you mention Jenny Realight? Like, Jenny Realight, the idol? Huge blonde hair, huge breasts, and pitifully small brain?"

Lyon pointed at her and said without any real heat, "Hey now, don't you blaspheme that absolute goddess. Her signature dance style is vogue, and it is _flawless_." He sighed and propped his elbows on the table, hands cupping his chin as he stared wistfully at the darkened stage. "I would kill to be able to learn moves like that."

Gray snorted and nudged his shoulder. "You can't even dance."

Lyon shot him an offended look and scoffed, "Um, yes I can."

"Memorizing every bit from Rocky Horror doesn't count."

"Those aren't the only dances I can do, you little shit."

"Twerking doesn't count either."

"Twerking _always _counts."

Lucy choked on her drink and gurgled a laugh, and Cana and Freed nodded in agreement with Lyon's words. Gray shook his head, halfway between amused and annoyed as he always was when it came to his brother, and then he spotted spikey pink hair out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, it felt as though all the air had been sucked out of lungs, and his focus zeroed in on the gorgeous woman in blue; his heart jumped in his chest when she glanced his way as they approached the table, and he quickly averted his eyes, choosing to instead stare at her boots. Boots that made her legs look great. He blushed.

"Guys," Natsu called, waving over the trio of performers and turning to the table. "Guys, this is Element Gear. That's Levy McGarden, Gajeel Redfox, and Juvia Lockser," he said, pointing to the singer, rapper, and dancer. "My friends thought you guys were awesome and wanted to meet you; this is Lucy Heartfilia—she's cool—that's Cana Alberona—she's also cool, but she's drunk right now, so who knows—"

"Hey!"

"—and that's… um, Freed Justine, right? Yeah. He's friends with the DJ, actually. And that's Gray Fullbuster over there; he's my best friend, but he's kind of a douche, so—"

"Shut _up_, Natsu," Gray growled, the tips of his ears turning pink when everyone at the table laughed.

Natsu grinned and went around to clap him on the back. "Aw, relax, Gray—it's a joke. Oh, right! And this is—"

"I'm Lyon," he exclaimed, jumping up and reaching for Juvia's hand. He clasped it tightly and said, "I'm Gray's big brother, and I'm on babysitting duty."

"Lyon!"

"Shut up, Gray," Lyon shot back over his shoulder before he turned back to the dancer and gushed, "You were amazing! I haven't seen anyone vogue like that, _ever_!" He plopped her down in the seat between Gray and Lucy, and Gray twitched as the light, fresh scent of her perfume wafted over to him.

"Th-Thank you," Juvia stuttered, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. "Juvia is—er, _I'm _glad that you enjoyed the performance. Juvia—um… _I _am—"

"It's alright, Juvia," Levy cajoled as she and Gajeel also took seats at the table. She nodded to the rest of them and explained, "She gets nervous in front of people she doesn't know, and it makes her talk in third person."

"No way," Lucy chimed, linking her arm through Juvia's and smiling. "You have no reason to be nervous around us; you were great! You're all really natural performers."

"You guys from around here?" Cana asked.

Levy shook her head and answered, "No, but we _did _just get an apartment a few blocks away from here, actually. It's closer to the Mercurius University of the Arts. We're all headed there in the fall."

"No kidding!" Lucy exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "We're all going there, too!"

"Really?"

"Well," Lyon cut in, pointing to Gray, Lucy, Cana, and Natsu. "These guys are, but I go to Galuna University."

"Drop-out!" Freed sing-songed. "I run a salon with my family, though, so it's all good. I'm gonna take over the business someday." He glanced around and frowned before smiling apologetically at the newcomers and saying, "It's really great to meet you guys—you're a pretty cool group—but I haven't seen Evergreen or Bickslow in a while, and those bitches aren't gonna ditch me. I'll see you guys later."

The group said their goodbyes to Freed and chattered with the members of Element Gear for a few minutes. Eventually, Natsu had to dash backstage to make sure that the next round of performances were lined up, and Lucy and Cana made their way to the dance floor after growing tired of sitting for so long. Levy and Gajeel went off to the bar to grab drinks, leaving Lyon, Gray, and Juvia at the table.

Gray tugged at the collar of his shirt, feeling uncomfortably warm; the air was hot, and it didn't help that there was a pretty girl dressed in a _very _flattering dance outfit right next to him. He glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye and them promptly looked somewhere else when his eyes ended up landing right on her ample cleavage, the crystals dangling from her top glittering enticingly under the club lights. Gray swallowed hard and compulsively opened the first few buttons of his shirt. He grunted when an elbow painfully dug into his ribs, and then he turned to glare at his brother.

Lyon smirked smugly and whispered, "You're never gonna get her number if you sit there in silence and stare at her tits."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb, Gray, I can practically _hear_ the awkward boner you're popping."

Gray's jaw dropped in horror, and if any more blood rushed to his head, it was going to explode. "I—I'm _not_—"

"So Juvia," Lyon interrupted loudly, leaning around to look at the girl. "I know it's bad form to mention a lady's age, but I'm honestly curious; how did you learn to vogue like that when you're so young?"

Juvia blushed hard at the attention directed her way but smiled and replied, "Ah… Juvia may only be eighteen, but Juvia has been training in dance ever since she was a little girl. Juvia would take ballet, and then jazz, but Juvia has never really enjoyed anything as much as vogue. Juvia has watched every single one of Jenny Realight's dance videos, and has taken nearly every class she could find. That's how Juvia has learned so much; Juvia has practiced for years."

"Do you think you could teach me?" Lyon asked eagerly, eyes shining. "I would die to learn some of your moves."

Juvia blinked in surprise before laughing, and the request seemed to break her out of the shell she had drawn into after her performance. She was confident when she replied, "Do you think you could keep up?"

"Oh, there she is," Lyon chuckled. "I knew you were actually a devil. Well you know what, _just _to show you that I'm not all talk, I'm hitting the floor. I can twerk up a storm," he quipped, disappearing into the crowd.

Gray groaned and dropped his head into his hands, but Juvia giggled. "Your brother seems like a very fun guy."

He cut his eyes at her; she was watching him now, cheeks still flushed and smile still sunny. Up on the stage, she really had looked like a completely different person—fiercer, more womanly. Seductive, even. Now that he could see her up close, though, he took in the heart-shaped face and button nose, the long, thick eyelashes that fanned out over her cheeks. Her face was the same, but the way she held herself—shyly—was different from the way she danced.

Gray blinked and remembered that she had said something to him and he belatedly muttered, "Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"Do you get along well?"

He thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "Well enough, I guess. We may not be related, but I do consider him family, so."

Juvia tilted her head to the side, confused. "Not related?"

"Yeah, we're both adopted. Our mom, Ur, has a biological daughter—my big sister, Ultear—but the father ran off forever ago. And she still wanted a big family, so she adopted Lyon and then me."

"Ah," Juvia murmured, nodding in understanding. "Juvia thought you two looked very different for brothers, but Juvia didn't want to say anything rude."

"S'alright. I consider not being blood-related to Lyon a very good thing, honestly."

She laughed and linked her fingers together before resting her chin on them. She studied him for a moment and then asked, "Did you like the performance, Gray-sama?"

He flushed and stuttered, "Gr-Gray-_sama_?"

Juvia smiled charmingly and nodded. "Juvia always believes in addressing those who watch her perform with the highest amount of respect. A dancer doesn't exist without someone to watch them."

"O-Oh. That makes sense," he mumbled, running a hand through his messy hair; his heart was pounding. He took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down before he answered, "Um, yeah, it was cool. You guys are a really unique group; usually performers all do the same thing, y'know?"

"You're right," she said, taking a lock of her hair and twirling it around her finger. "The three of us grew up together and always wanted to perform, and we actually started the group with Levy-chan and Gajeel-kun as singers, and Juvia as the dancer. But, we stopped because—" She quickly glanced around and then leaned in, lips lightly brushing against his ear when she whispered, "—the truth is, Gajeel-kun is a terrible singer."

Gray shifted in his seat and resisted the urge to run his fingers over the spot where she had touched him. _'No, _there's _the awkward boner Lyon was talking about_,' he thought bitterly, trying and failing to not feel like a complete pervert. He cleared his throat and asked, "Really? But he's great at rapping."

Juvia nodded in agreement and exclaimed, "I know! He writes the lyrics for our songs, but he can't sing them at all!"

"Oi, what're you telling this guy, Juvia?" a gruff voice said, and the pair of them looked up to see Gajeel returning to the table, a drink in his hand and a scowl on his face.

"Oh, Gajeel-kun! Where's Levy-chan?"

He grunted and motioned to some spot off in the dance floor and then growled warningly, "Woman, you'd better not be making fun of me."

"I wasn't making fun of you!" she protested, slapping her hands down on the table. "I was just talking about how we first started Element Gear, and you couldn't sing."

"Tch," Gajeel scoffed before chugging his drink. He plunked it down on the table and pointed at Gray, saying, "I can sing, I just like rapping better. Don't listen to her, kid; she's crazy. At least when I talk, I talk like a normal person."

"Juvia just gets nervous!" she exclaimed, blushing furiously. "And please, Gajeel-kun, rapping doesn't seem that difficult. It's just exaggerated talking."

Clearly, Gray thought, this was an argument that they'd had many times in the past, judging by the way Gajeel's muscles bunched, as if he were preparing for a physical fight instead of a verbal one, and the way that Juvia elegantly crossed one long leg over the other and drew herself up in her seat. Gajeel scowled at her and challenged, "Oh yeah? Che. If it's so easy, then give it a shot."

"…Right now?"

"Yeah, right now. Throw me a verse. Something, anything." He grinned wickedly, piercings glinting and eyes flashing. "Unless you wanna admit that you don't have the talent for it."

Juvia huffed and tilted her head, listening to the steady beat of the current music that was playing. She bobbed her head to the rhythm, and after a few moments, her eyes lit up in realization. She took a deep breath and rapped, "Gajeel is in the house, what-what! He's got a dick up in his mou—"

Gray spat his drink over the table and coughed out a strangled laugh at the same time Gajeel cut her off with a bellowed, "JUVIA!" The dancer threw her head back and laughed, the crystals on her chest jingling against each other with the movement.

She wiped away tears of hilarity and giggled, "See? Not that hard."

"You're a bitch," Gajeel grumbled, tugging his headband low over his brow, but he was struggling to suppress an amused smirk. "I'm going to find Levy."

Gray watched her wave goodbye to her friend, and he concluded three things: one, Fairy Tail was a great club, and he was definitely coming back if it meant that he had a chance to see Juvia perform there again. Two, Gajeel had to be right, because nobody could go from seductive dancing, to bashfulness around strangers, to saying the word 'dick' with absolutely no shame unless they were some kind of crazy. And three, she may have been gorgeous appearance-wise—_'Especially in _that_ outfit_,' he thought—but there was something _more _to her. He wanted to find out what that 'more' was.

"So," he began, and winced at how his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "So, you're going to Mercurius this fall?"

Juvia beamed at him and gushed, "Yes, Juvia is very excited; their dance program is one of the best in Fiore!" Then her smile turned bashful, and she glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. "Gray-sama, what are you going to study there?"

'_These pants are getting uncomfortably tight,' _he thought witheringly, but he swallowed hard and tried to focus on the fact that she had asked him about something that he was very proud of. "Sculpture," he managed to answer confidently. "Like Ur. Ever since I was little, I've watched her sculpt ice, and I decided that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

"Ur…" she mumbled, thoughtfully tapping a well-manicured finger against her lips. Then she gasped in realization. "Oh! Your mother is Ur Milkovich?" Gray blinked and nodded. Juvia grabbed his arm and exclaimed, "That's amazing! I love her work; her Rose Garden sculpture is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life! Can you really do things like that?"

The corners of Gray's lips quirked up, and he answered humbly, "Well, I'm definitely not anywhere near Ur's level yet, but someday I'll get there."

"Juvia is sure that Gray-sama is amazing," she breathed, and Gray couldn't deny that the blatant admiration in her eyes was a giant ego boost for him. She giggled and said, "It's such a strange coincidence that Gray-sama ended up being here tonight. Fairy Tail actually hired Juvia and her friends to be regular performers, and we're actually getting one night next weekend to have our very own show here, to entertain. And… they actually ordered ice sculptures for Juvia's part of the show."

Gray stared at her and remembered Lyon mentioning something about Ur's new commission being for Fairy Tail, just as they'd been leaving the for the club. He was just about to open his mouth and respond to that revelation when Juvia leaned up against him and gave him a flirtatious smile. "Gray-sama," she crooned sweetly, and Gray suddenly got the feeling that maybe she wasn't really as shy as she'd looked. "I would love it if you would come see me dance."

"Oh, does that invitation extend to family?" Lyon questioned, clapping a hand down on each of their shoulders.

Gray and Juvia immediately sprang apart, and the former exclaimed, irritated and more than a little bit embarrassed, "Where the hell did you come from?!"

Lyon rolled his eyes and ruffled Gray's hair, answering matter-of-factly, "The dance floor, of course." He slid a sly glance towards the pair, both of them avoiding eye contact, and he grinned. "Oh. Don't tell me I interrupted a moment."

"I hate you," Gray muttered, scowling.

Juvia laughed nervously and shook her head. "J-Juvia was just… inviting Gray-sama to come see Element Gear's show here next weekend. Of course you can come, Lyon-sama. And even your mother, if she wants; she is sculpting the pieces for Juvia's portion of the performance."

Lyon couldn't have looked more pleased with himself, and he elbowed Gray in the ribs none-too-gently and said, "Well, what do you know? Small world. I dunno about Ur, 'cause I'm sure the thought of a family outing to a club is just as terrifying to her as it is to us, but Gray and I will definitely be here; what time does it start?"

"Ah… Juvia isn't so sure yet; the lineup isn't final."

Lyon nodded amiably and said, "That's alright. You can just text and let us know later on when you find out." He sharply kicked Gray under the table, saying over his brother's pained yelp, "Oh, but I left my phone at home, so you can just give Gray your number."

It took Gray a moment to realize that for once, his brother was actually being helpful, and he tried not to look too eager as he held out his phone for Juvia to punch in her number. She handed it back once she had, and their fingers brushed together. He tried not to smile too smugly at the bright color that rose in her cheeks, but it was a hard thing to accomplish.

Juvia smiled up at Gray and said coquettishly, "Juvia will see you there, then?"

Gray gave her a crooked grin. "Definitely."

'_Thank God for Natsu and his job.'_

* * *

**Gay Lyon is my favorite Lyon I've written so far, honest to god. Also, Juvia's little attempt rap is taken from a hilarious Vine video that made me laugh for days, so I take no credit for that. Thank you for reading!**


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